Just saw 2014 Trillium 13 ft

[RRJR]

Last year we visited the trailer show here in London Ontaio Can. They had a new 2012 Trillium from CALIFORNIA, LOADED WITH LOST OF EXTRAS, PRICE TAG $19900.00.
wow!!!!

[steve dunham]

Saw a 13 ft and a 15 ft on a flat bed truck on I-35 earlier this week in St Paul ,Minnesota " Sidekick by Great West "

[brandybmw]

We love the new Trillium 1300 bunk model! They have beautiful interior - dark modern wood floors, stainless fridge, modern flat stove/sink area. The ones in MN don't have a bunk but it looks like the front dinette would easily be retrofittable. Great West Vans was responding to my emails but then disappeared. Marian's story scares me though. There are a few Trilliums in MN, but they are presumably from the Canadian plant. I'm thinking that things will be improved in the Alabama plant??? Or should I just give up on this beautiful interior and perfect floorplan...

[marianb]

Marian here. When I posted about the wheel coming off, we were brand new RV/ trillium owners. The problem was actually with the seller who never told us to tighten the lug nuts. We had never owned an RV and did not know that you need to tighten the lug nuts regularly. After we got it home, discovered the heater was hooked up wrong, fridge not hooked up at all, was not checked out at the factory before releasing it for sale. The trillium was actually a good little trailer once all the things they were supposed to do were taken care of. We have since traded for a bigger RV. It was just too small for us. The price on those units is way off the charts though. We bought a new 21 foot RV with all the bells and whistles and it was less than what we paid for the trillium.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by brandybmw

We love the new Trillium 1300 bunk model! They have beautiful interior - dark modern wood floors, stainless fridge, modern flat stove/sink area. The ones in MN don't have a bunk but it looks like the front dinette would easily be retrofittable. Great West Vans was responding to my emails but then disappeared. Marian's story scares me though. There are a few Trilliums in MN, but they are presumably from the Canadian plant. I'm thinking that things will be improved in the Alabama plant??? Or should I just give up on this beautiful interior and perfect floorplan...

Marian's trailer was built during a time when the US Trillium group didn't actually have its own faculty and was contracting out to pretty well anyone who would build for them. Think you will find thats no longer the case and the trailers are now being built by one company and who seem to have better quality control and customer service.

Great West Vans who are making the new Trillium/Sidekick (was Trillium USA) is still very much alive and well -although in the process of moving their plant - have your tried their 1-800 number? They sell through RV dealers so you should ask where the nearest one to you is and you might get more help from a dealer than directly from the factory. I know there are a number of new Sidekick's sitting at RV lots here on the West Coast.

Failing that there is still the other option of going to WWW.trilliamtrailers.com we have a few owners of what is now called the Outback who attend our rallies here on the coast and the owners seem pretty happy with their trailers.

[David Tilston]

On Trillium / Outback's web site:

PLEASE NOTE: Trillium Trailers has temporarily suspended business due to a move. We apologize to our valued customers for this inconvenience. We will be back up and running soon. If you need to contact us we can be reached at 587-998-3929. Thank you!

[marianb]

Carol, you are absolutely correct. We bought our Trillium in Pleasanton and when things started going wrong we tried contacting the manufacturer and got the total run around as to who actually built our Trillium. The seller took care of fixing the problems so it all worked out. But it was a bad time to buy a trillium. We bought our current RV through a large RV dealer and it was a much better experience. I learned my lesson. I'm glad everyone is enjoying their Trilliums. They are nice little trailers. Just make sure you have recourse if anything goes wrong. marian

[Carol H]

BTW I noted on another thread not long ago on the topic of USA Trillum and Great West Vans that someone reported having talked with Tom Young of USA Trillum recently and he confirmed it isn NOT a joint venture with Great West Vans and that he had indeed sold the Tillium biz outright to them.

[Raz]

A visit to the TrilliumRV site yields

As of Spring 2014, Trillium Trailers will be known as the Sidekick by Sterling RV, a division of Great West Van Conversions Inc. In recent months, we have relocated our manufacturing facility to Alabama to be closer to our clientele.


After that the site reads the same as the old page except Sidekick is substituted for Trillium. The factory picture is from California, Brea I think. Sometimes the 15 ft is called the 1500 and other times it's the 4500. There are other errors as well. Unfortunately the Great West site doesn't seem to give enough information about the trailer. Their vans seems to dominate and the trailer is an after thought.

The Trillium design is a really nice trailer. The casual attention to details in both construction and customer service are why it hasn't succeeded so far. I hope Great West or Sterling or who ever is building the trailer makes a go of it but even if they overcome the mistakes of the past I'm afraid high cost may do them in. When I bought my Trillium, the price was very competitive with Scamp. Raz

[Sheryl M]

We saw/toured a Trillium 1500 (15') in April at the Townsend Eggscursion. A nearby RV dealer (in Chillhowee) had recently become a dealer and had 2 on the lot which they brought down to the campground. It is a nice camper, but the MSRP was $22,000.

To me, the 1500 had a lot of features I'd like in a small camper: double size bed, bathroom, small front bench - but I felt the the price was way too high.
I had not heard that the plant was now moved to Alabama.

[Carol H]

Get Away RV shop in Abbortsford BC has some Sidekicks and they are on sale for C$21,445. Lots of pictures of the trailers on the link.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by marianb

Marian here. When I posted about the wheel coming off, we were brand new RV/ trillium owners. The problem was actually with the seller who never told us to tighten the lug nuts. We had never owned an RV and did not know that you need to tighten the lug nuts regularly. After we got it home, discovered the heater was hooked up wrong, fridge not hooked up at all, was not checked out at the factory before releasing it for sale. The trillium was actually a good little trailer once all the things they were supposed to do were taken care of. We have since traded for a bigger RV. It was just too small for us. The price on those units is way off the charts though. We bought a new 21 foot RV with all the bells and whistles and it was less than what we paid for the trillium.

If the assembly or dealer prep was done properly there is no way that a wheel should loosen in 200 miles. This was NOT your fault.
Just how often did they say you should tighten them anyway... at every fuel stop??

[David B.]

Floyd, I was told, and have seen a sticker on several fenders, that a new wheel, or one that has been removed and reinstalled, should be checked for tightness every 50 miles x 2, then just have to check them every couple hundred of miles. I did this after picking up our Lil Snoozy, and darned if the lug nuts weren't loose the first two times, although less loose each time after each check. I also noticed that the wheel on the spindle had loosened or seated after 1000 miles and bearing needed to be tighten one notch.
Dave & Paula

[floyd]

Originally Posted by David B.

Floyd, I was told, and have seen a sticker on several fenders, that a new wheel, or one that has been removed and reinstalled, should be checked for tightness every 50 miles x 2, then just have to check them every couple hundred of miles. I did this after picking up our Lil Snoozy, and darned if the lug nuts weren't loose the first two times, although less loose each time after each check. I also noticed that the wheel on the spindle had loosened or seated after 1000 miles and bearing needed to be tighten one notch.
Dave & Paula

So you do get out a torque wrench at every fuel stop? Bless your heart!

[Raz]

I have the same wheel on my Trillium. I take them off at least once a year to do the bearings. They have never been loose after the initial tightening. My guess, some one at the factory put the wheels on and forgot to tighten them when the trailer was lowered to the ground.

When we picked up our trailer the safety chains had no hooks, the inside of the trailer was dirty, we found hardware, debris, and a razor blade in the storage compartments, and none of the holes for wires had been sealed. It was clear that Tom Young, who delivered the trailer, had never set foot in it. Like I said, casual. Raz

[JRTrillium]

We visited the SideKick at our local dealer in Kingston NS. Oh my. The quality was very shoddy inside. Maybe they don't deliver well? Nothing closed properly. The outside of the unit felt very light and depressed so easily when touching it. The front window cover did not close properly and when we tried to close it the parts came out on the right side. Priced here at 22,500$. Was thinking some day we'd upgrade to a 15' with toilet - I will not look at these ones but go for a ProLite.

I was so excited to finally see a brand new one only to be let down.

[JRTrillium]

Out of curiosity I emailed the 'Trillium' company because there are supposedly two of them? This is their reply to me:

"They brand was originally. But they sold out to Sterling Industrial
Coatings, which also bought Great West Vans, and was rebranded as the
"SideKick" by Sterling RV…which also makes "Great West Vans" by
Sterling RV…Parsons Motors is a dealer for the SideKick trailers now.
We added them about 2 months ago."

[brandybmw]

I finally got in touch with Trillium and I liked the sound of the new situation except that it seems to be taking a wile to get up and running. The sales person was supposed to call me but never did. They say they have some 1300 bunk models that were manufactured in Canada and assembled in Alabama. The latest report of shoddy workmanship scares me since the price is so high. It doesn't seem like there is anything else out there that has bunks, lots of big windows, modern looking interior (faux wood flooring, flat sink/stove when not in use, stainless refrigerator.) There's a used Scamp local but it doesn't look as nice as the Trillium. We've never done any mods on a camper before, but I'm guessing replacing flooring wouldn't be that bad!

[Raz]

Originally Posted by brandybmw

....... It doesn't seem like there is anything else out there that has bunks, lots of big windows, modern looking interior (faux wood flooring, flat sink/stove when not in use, stainless refrigerator.) .......

I believe both Scamp and Parkliner have bunk options. Parkliner is made in N.C. Raz

[Jon in AZ]

Originally Posted by brandybmw

...It doesn't seem like there is anything else out there that has bunks, lots of big windows...

I have seen a couple of used Trillium/Outbacks for sale and noticed they didn't have the jalousies. In fact, it looked like the front & rear were non-opening. Is that right? One of the attractions of the old Trilliums was ventilation on all four sides.